New guidelines in labor litigation | Business | EUROtoday

Labor judgments are about to expertise vital change. As of April 3, 2025, the events in these litigation should current the documentary and skilled proof no less than 10 days prematurely of the trial and in digital format, apart from concrete exceptions. This modification of article 82.5 of the regulatory regulation of the social jurisdiction goals to keep away from delays and suspensions, but additionally raises challenges for legal professionals, corporations, employees and even for the social courts themselves.

Until now, documentary and skilled proof may very well be introduced on the identical day of judgment, which allowed the events to regulate their technique till the final second. With the brand new regulation, this chance is discarded, which means that legal professionals must put together their judgments extra anticipated. This circumstance, says àlex Santacana, associate of the Labor Area of ​​Magán Abogados, “totally changes the current system, in which until the last day and last minute test could be requested or decide the contribution of documents or expertise.”

The new rules suggest the talk on whether or not it favors corporations or employees. Santacana considers that “perhaps” whom he harms probably the most is the defendant, usually the corporate, since even the act of trial didn’t reply the lawsuit and, subsequently, till that second he didn’t train his letters. A viewpoint with which Pere Vidal, affiliate director of the Roca Junyent labor space, which argues that “the working party will now have an additional benefit, since it can adjust or expand its evidence or its initial demand once access the company’s documentary.”

Daniel Villalba, Labor Lawyer of ASEC (Labor Accounting Fiscal Advice) warns that “the anticipated exposure of the defense strategy could give advantage to the opposite party” and thus generate procedural inequality. However, he believes that probably the most affected half with this measure is the employee, who can have problem having the assessments in time. “Specifically, to access key documentation that is usually in the hands of the employer,” he explains. In addition, provides the lawyer, the demand for the digital format might be a further effort for each employees and small companies.

For its half, Faith Quiñones, director of the Labor Area of ​​Javaloyes Legal regrets that realizing a lot of the check can undermine attribute elements of the method in social jurisdiction reminiscent of verbality or immediacy.

The new calls for might have an vital affect on civil legal responsibility trials derived from occupational accidents, by which the consultants play an vital function. Isabel Burón, associate of Clyde & Co, emphasizes that “a greater collaboration between insurer and insured will be necessary to guarantee compliance with the new deadlines for presenting expert evidence.” Likewise, the lawyer considers that, realizing prematurely the skilled data, the claimants may have a larger capability to find out the quantity of their claims and, in flip, the consultants of the insurance coverage entities may have extra time to argue and justify the variations of quantification.

A attainable optimistic impact of this reform, in keeping with consultants, is the rise in agreements earlier than trial, which might contribute to unblocking the social courts. “Seeing the documentary and expert evidence of the other party, the chances of success can be better valued and this can motivate more agreements with anticipated character,” says àlex Santacana. Along the identical traces, Vidal believes that it may be an incentive for negotiation, “since both parties will have a clearer knowledge of the strength of their respective positions.”

Isabel Burón additionally believes that the reform can have a optimistic affect on negotiating options, though it warns that “the extrajudicial agreements will depend, to a large extent, on the solidity of the tests presented.” In this sense, Daniel Villalba warns that there’s a hazard that negotiations will harden in these circumstances by which one of many events perceives within the different larger vulnerability. “The company could adopt a more rigid posture in the negotiation if you consider that the test provided by the worker is not strong enough,” he says.

In any case, this reform will mark a earlier than and after in labor trials. Although its goal is to expedite the procedures of the social jurisdiction, its success will rely, primarily, on how the events handle to reorganize their procedural methods and the flexibility of the courts to adapt to digitalization. And it’s that one of the vital questioned factors is whether or not the courts have the mandatory assets to handle the presentation of all proof in digital format.

In the opinion of Faith Quiñones, “to do the most agile justice, media are needed, which if they are not contributed, they will make the work of legal operators very difficult, which will affect the citizen.” The lawyer places for instance of success in digitalization to the Tax Agency. “If we want the courts to do their job, there must be investment in technological and human media, we must necessarily do it in that order,” he claims.

Along these traces, Isabel Burón factors out that the full digitalization of justice is a protracted -term goal that won’t be achieved instantly with the entry into drive of this regulation. “There are few occasions in which, even providing documentary evidence in electronic format, it is also required in physical due to technical impossibility of the courts,” says the lawyer.